I Know One Thing

People I know who have traveled around the world and settled in America often say other nationalities are better informed, more conversational and less self-absorbed. They also say that Americans are really nice people. I knew that instinctively, because we wouldn't have sacrificed so many American lives to save others from totalitarianism if we weren't basically good people.

One Russian immigrant I recently spoke with said he was envious of how Americans live in relative wealth and have multiple choices for everything, yet still complain that the world is unfair. "Americans have no idea what fair means!"

He noted that freedom of the press is something we take for granted, but allow it to be misused. In Russia it is dangerous to criticize the President. In America, private enterprise can censor the President!  One action silences the people, the other silences the people's elected representative. He wondered, "which is worse?"

Sergio said Russian media is like a father-figure "grooming the people to be happy". Since Russia is already a top-down, socialist management system, their job is "to facilitate complacency." So they concentrate on happy talk, and government policy affirmations.
In America, he thinks "the media is like a mother figure, trying to herd people into a monolithic culture". So they have to create a sense of chaos that the state can then promise to resolve. The media speaks to its audience like children, assuring us that "if we want to be happy, we must listen to mom".

He said when he saw how Twitter suspended President Trump's account, he was shocked. "That would never happen in Russia because no snot-nosed media operative decides when the President speaks."

He went on, "You guys should have made a stink. Twitter was acting like a totalitarian government" by shutting Trump down. "What happened to freedom of speech?"

I totally agree. If a government agency shut down Jimmy Kimmel because he violated "community standards", all hell would break loose. Heads would roll at the network, not because he said inflammatory things, but because he is a Progressive celebrity. He is exempt from criticism. He is mommy's favorite son.

If a sitting President wants to speak to the people he should be heard, and it isn't up to social media operators to make value judgements about the content. That is up to the people to decide. We are lucky to be able to look into the soul of leaders who want to be actively involved in social media.  I say, "Let 'em rip!"

The idea that online media is privately owned and can therefore pick and choose who they allow to speak is bogus. We have laws that prevent private businesses, such as restaurants, from arbitrarily restricting service to certain groups. Those rules are based on equal protection and anti discrimination law. How are social media services any different than food services?

Censorship is censorship no matter how you package it. "Community Standards" are intended to protect children and minorities from exploitation. Adult Americans can protect themselves. We don't need Big Brother towering over our communications.

Unfortunately, when the censorship began, Americans quietly acquiesced, falling for the "Community Standards" excuse, which we all know has never really been applied evenly since the inception of social media platforms. Big Tech's unseemly censorship campaign points out how we take our liberties for granted and can easily be herded. Now they are overreaching, suspending and intimidating anyone that disputes their "Community Standards" narrative. Many platforms are now censoring discussions about human trafficking, the pandemic, and voting security.

Media elitists enjoy a tremendous amount of influence, which often results in a sort of drunken arrogance. Unlike the state mandated Russian form of media propaganda, our global corporate mandated media practices a subtle form of grooming. By altering or limiting content, redefining terms and guilt-shaming American individualism, the Progressive Media Cabal effectively grooms us to accept GroupThink.

For seven decades we have been fed a consistently ambiguous series of news events that were declared "Game Changing". The assassinations of JFK, RFK, MLK, and the mysterious death or disappearances of Jimmy Hoffa, JFK Jr., Antonin Scalia, Jeffrey Epstein, and many others, never added up for me. They all appeared to be altered reality, orchestrated by some nefarious Puppet Masters behind the digital curtains. So I take everything pushed by mass media with a grain of salt.
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I know one thing for sure: There is no way to know anything for sure.